DUNEDIN, Fla. (WFLA) — A man in Florida is facing a felony charge after police say he threatened to run over protesters.
Eloy Garcia, 64, was charged on Saturday with threatening communications or threatening a mass shooting, which is a second-degree felony.
An affidavit from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said Garcia made a post on Facebook on Friday, the day before a planned day of “No Kings” protests across the state and country.
“I’m spending so much money on gas driving around just looking and hoping to run across blockading protesters or people crossing the street with signs saying don’t deport our illegals so I can just run them over,” Garcia wrote in the post.
Thousands took to the streets on Saturday to protest the Trump administration, specifically his recent actions on tackling illegal immigration.
“I carry a couple of bricks and Molotov cocktails so I can put in their hands like a throw down weapon lol,” Garcia wrote.
Gov. Ron DeSantis last week said in a news conference that Florida drivers have the right to hit protesters, but only in the specific circumstance that the driver fears for their life.